Both Santa Fe shows were fantastic. Favorite shows I attended!!!

these two shows have great sound and off the charts set lists for any year. They came ready to play this entire tour. whether it be Phil's new love or just the X factor they were on every night. From Palo Alto on threw Manor downs. The ventura shows in 83 were not as good as other years.
Point is grab each and every show you will not be sorry you did.

A very rare second set Let it Grow and Wang Dang Doodle.

Beautiful FOB AUD..when listening to this you can close your eyes and place yourself right in the magic~!solid from start to finish~Give It A Whirl>Forever Grateful>Forever Dead

Does anyone involved in the posting/mastering of his have any clue if this was:
1. a digital or analog transfer from the PCM->DAT?
2. If it was a digital transfer, was the PCM-preemphasis curve removed???
Just curious because while it's an amazing recording, it sounds to me to be overly bright -- which would indicate that the pre-emphasis curve had NOT been removed...

This run of shows in Santa Fe is really great, a stand-out of the '83 shows that I have heard. I keep coming back to listen again and again. For me, the two-drummer shows are hit or miss: when those Rhythm Devils are connected then the music is propelled ahead by a powerful momentum, and when not it can be unpleasantly sloppy, with all the musicians compensating trying to keep the tempo.
Annnnyway, these shows feature tight drumming. Jerry's voice is weathered but very much present. The band is coalescing on most songs and the recording quality is top notch.
The soundboard patch in Althea is quite nice. Love the crispness of the drums, harmonic qualities of the keyboards, deepness of bass on that SB. I wonder why so few comments over there...

This was my first big tour trip from Connecticut.An older bother, of a friend, needed riders in their VW bus to go to Red Rocks. So me an a friend jumped at the chance.After the last show in Morrison my buddy Paul and I were hitching a ride to Santa Fe, many poeple were even not going yet, but a older head originally from Massachusetts,said jump in and we were off.It is 600 miles so we drove all night long non stop, she had been tripping, and we talked up a storm. We arrived in New Mexico at dawn and the Downs was right off I-25. The gracious woman was broke, like us, and after driving us all the way their she decided to go back home. We gave her all the money we could for gas and she disappeared into the dawn.There was camping on site, so we set up shop and hung out. I had $200 in travlers checks , but since I had no ID innocent mistake, I could not use them. So we could not go into town which was about 8 miles away. That night everyone rolled in and the next morning we awoke to a joyous camp of tour heads and hard core hippys. It was one of my most memoriable experiences ever and except for some light smoke, was a drug free experience. The day before was beautiful but a cold front moved through during the show and we got that amazing rainbow. Today was a typical New Mexico day, glorious blue skies with high cumlus clouds rolling by. Santa Fe is at the foot of the Sandia de Cristos mountains due east and you could see 50+ miles to the north, west and south, all high mountain desert, so simply it was a spectatular setting.The only problem was I had run out of money and had no ticket. The Shiks, from Espanola, who ran security were very nice, but as the show started there were an handful of us us wanted to get in, we joked with them about letting us in but they would not just let us have our way.We were in an area that had access and was below the seating, which was supported by large concrete pillars During Alabama as one of them made his rounds I realized I could dash and hide behind a pillar and then wait until he looked away and sprint in. Well we all just went for it and it worked and plus the guys did not chase us in anyways, they just laughed.It was the only time I ever snuck into a show but it was that loose. Once in you could prcatically walk right up the the stage and hang out.Never seen anything like it since. The first set featured an amazing GSET, a sing along Dire Wolf and a still infant Bucket, with Jerry slight off key to start. Mid set was very good with great versions of all songs.West LA was a stand out. CC was surpising so late in the set but the band was so relaxed, they quickly went into Might as Well realizing the set had to end sometime.Set II starts off with another furious Help> Slip> Franklin's, the latter being extremely well played and joyous. Phil sounds so good on this show and the mix of the entire band is excellent.The high light has to be the scorching Let it Grow,the only 2nd set one I ever saw, it just explodes and the end jam is one of the best of the post'74 era. He's Gone really was nice too and played quite well, the older heads really appreciated it. The Truckin is great and then into a ranchy Wang Dang, with the whole band really playing it out segues into a very strong Morning Dew, the high light being the middle bridge jam. A rocking Around is followed by a breath taking Sugar Magnolia which is excellent and then Jerry sends us on our way with a rocking US Blues. At the time they had THE best tour shirt ever sold at the show, a blue shirt with a dancing dead head kachina holding lightning bolts and roses, maybe you have seen it? Anyways I could not buy it, see above mentioned situation. I did get a flyer with the same symbol which I still have.15+ later GDM reissued it and I was able to score one. When I wear it and some one ask were you there? With a big smile and a resounding yes! These shows really had the best of everything and are hold there own in dead head lore. After the show the late day light was incredible and as a the sun set, the landscape bathed in golden light, an older head was sitting on has car hood just smiling and awed by the beauty and said "this is why I live in New Mexico". It caputures you like that, the land, the light and the big sky,and eventually I made my home there too,in 1999, and lived there for six years.These shows had everything to do with it.

Apparently, none of the other reviewers were actually there, because this is one of my top three shows (out of 145). The venue, the mellow security (with turbans smoking with us), the music! Check out the Help-Slip-Franklins and then Let It Grow. Bobby's mike malfunctioned during Wang Dang Doodle, so he beat on it trying to get it to work, meanwhile the rest of the band just jammed! Hot!

Sorry. My mistake. The files I happened to catch while downloading were marked with an *. Everything else is as advertised and very worthy of listening to for those of you who love a pristine audience recording. Great job to the fellas with the mics. My apologies.

In my mind this recording ranks up there with the Glassberg MSG 1981 FOBs (1981-3-9/10) and the Keshavan Frost 1982 FOBs (1982 -10-9/10)as some of the finest pre digital early 80's fobs available on this site. I would like to thank all three of these tapers for their fine work and contribution to keeping the music alive for all of us.
Like most of you, I have a love/hate relationship with the music of the Grateful Dead performed between 1983-1985. This period really begins with the December 1982 Oakland run and ends with Garcia's coma in mid 1986. On one hand, these shows are generally sloppy, unfocused instrumentally and, by 1985, they become barely listenable vocally. On the other hand, the energy and sheer power of the band was only matched by performances in the 60's and never post coma. It seems that Garcia's surrender to the Persian and Phil's introduction of the six string Modulus are the two factors most responsible for the band's sound. Check out the above noted two recordings along with this one and note the evolution of the band's sound in these two or so years.
This performance at Santa Fe has the best of both worlds and is one of the band's most consistent shows of this period.

Ah another steller audience, a must have- keep them coming. One of the better HelpSlipFranks from 83'.

i get a lot of crap becuase people say i'm too harsh in my reviews, but if all the audience recordings sounded like this, then there would be no reason to do so. i'm not going to rate the show, because i'm not a complete deadhead like many here, i'll leave that to others. i know there are better shows, better years, yadda yadda yadda...i just know that this sounds damn nice, and i'm enjoying it.
5 stars on sound. the vocals, the instruments, the thump...it's all good.